It’s hard to imagine Margot Robbie not playing Barbie, but she wasn’t the first choice. Barbie originally starred Amy Schumer, who later dropped out of the project (before Greta Gerwig was involved) in 2017. “Sadly, I’m no longer able to commit to Barbie due to scheduling conflicts,” she wrote at the time. “The film has so much promise, and Sony and Mattel have been great partners. I’m bummed, but look forward to seeing Barbie on the big screen.”
Schumer finally revealed the real story on Watch What Happens Live.
“I think we said it was scheduling conflicts, that’s what we said. But yeah, it really was just creative differences. But you know, there’s a new team behind it, and it looks like it’s very feminist and cool, so I will be seeing the movie,” she said, according to Variety. When asked by host Andy Cohen if the old script wasn’t “feminist and cool,” she replied, “Yeah! Yeah.”
Schumer mentioned to The Hollywood Reporter last year that Sony “definitely didn’t want to do it the way I wanted to do it, the only way I was interested in doing it.” She said she should’ve known the project wasn’t for her when the studio gifted her a pair of Manolo Blahnik shoes to celebrate her casting.
There are no hard feelings between Schumer and Robbie. “I can’t wait to see the [Margot Robbie] movie, it looks awesome,” she said. Schumer didn’t mention how she felt about Ryan Gosling as Ken, because she need to — who could be mad at this guy
Barbie opens on July 21st.